Director of Creative Strategy

Kikoff • San Francisco, CA

3d • $189,000 - $218,000

About The Position

Kikoff is seeking a Director of Creative Strategy to lead the strategic direction of performance creative and develop the creative strategy and copy team. Reporting to the Senior Director of Brand & Creative, this role connects consumer needs, business priorities, and performance insights to creative strategy that supports acquisition and conversion. The primary focus is paid social, with additional strategic guidance across TV and creator content, in close partnership with Growth, the Creative Director, and production leads.

The Director will establish a structured creative learning agenda, expand the messages and formats explored, and ensure testing generates useful understanding of customer motivations. The role sets messaging frameworks and briefing standards, guides concept selection and creative feedback, and partners with Growth to interpret performance findings and shape priorities. It also manages and coaches the team, oversees UGC sourcing and creator selection, and improves creator workflows and cross-functional processes.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in creative strategy, content strategy, or performance marketing creative for consumer businesses.
• Substantial experience setting strategy for an ongoing acquisition program, with deep paid social expertise.
• Demonstrated ability to establish learning agendas and testing priorities and guide teams in applying results to improve creative.
• Strong grounding in consumer insights, positioning, messaging, and direct-response principles.
• Excellent judgment evaluating concepts and copy, including the ability to explain why an approach may resonate and how to strengthen it.
• Analytical fluency and experience partnering with Growth or media teams to evaluate findings and make strategic decisions.
• 4+ years of people management experience, with concrete examples of developing junior talent and improving their thinking and work.
• Experience overseeing creator or UGC programs, including sourcing, selection, briefing, and execution.
• Ability to establish clear priorities, delegate effectively, and maintain accountability across multiple workstreams.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and ability to build alignment around creative direction and recommendations.

Nice To Haves

• Background in fintech, financial services, or another regulated consumer category.
• Experience shaping creative strategy across multiple products or audiences.
• TV advertising experience, including collaboration with copywriters, creative directors, and production teams.
• Familiarity with quantitative research, consumer insights, or message testing.
• Experience improving creator workflows and systems for sharing creative learnings.

Responsibilities

• Own performance creative strategy across the product portfolio, primarily for paid social, translating business priorities and brand positioning into audience, consumer need, value proposition, and messaging priorities.
• Develop a deliberate mix of creative approaches across messages, formats, and channels, balancing iteration on proven work with exploration of new opportunities.
• Use consumer research, customer feedback, competitive insights, and performance learnings to guide creative direction and address motivations and conversion barriers.
• Establish messaging frameworks and briefing standards that provide clear direction while supporting concept development.
• Guide concept selection and provide feedback on ideas, scripts, and copy to strengthen the link between consumer insight, product benefit, and action.
• Partner with the Creative Director on effective execution and guide TV messaging and strategic priorities through team members leading concept development and writing.
• Set and maintain accountability for the creative learning agenda with Growth, defining questions and hypotheses to improve understanding of conversion drivers.
• Guide the team in translating the learning agenda into testing roadmaps, briefs, and concepts, ensuring individual tests contribute to broader learning.
• Oversee synthesis of test results and preparation of learning reviews and quarterly reporting; challenge conclusions and ensure recommendations are evidence-based.
• Partner with Growth to interpret performance patterns and determine implications for creative priorities, messaging, and investment.
• Improve briefing, concept review, and knowledge-sharing processes so insights inform future creative development.
• Manage and develop the creative strategy and copy team through coaching and specific feedback on strategic thinking, messaging judgment, concept development, and writing.
• Set clear responsibilities and development goals that support growth in creative strategy and copy leadership.
• Oversee UGC sourcing and creator selection, ensuring talent suits the audience, concept, script, and intended execution.
• Improve creator sourcing, briefing, feedback, and delivery in partnership with the team.
• Align creative priorities with Growth's acquisition goals and testing capacity, and partner with the Creative Director and Creative Operations to use internal and external resources effectively.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage; Kikoff covers the full cost for employees and 50% for dependents.
• Meaningful equity in the form of RSUs.
• 20 days of paid time off per year.
• 401(k) plan with an employer match.
• Competitive pay based on experience, consisting of base pay, equity, and benefits.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed